Comments | bakerstreaders: Silver Blaze

the_arc5 in bakerstreaders

Silver Blaze - Discussion Post

Jan 10, 2011 18:55

This week, Holmes went to see a man about a horse, there is a curious incident with a dog in the night-time, and a certain hat gets dug out of the closet. Whether or not Watson is secretly horrified, the world may never know.

DISCUSS.

( Holmes, leaning forward, with his long thin forefinger checking off the points upon the palm of his left hand, gave me a sketch of the events... )

memoirs, silver blaze, discussion post

Comments 9

alexcat January 11 2011, 01:22:28 UTC

I love the hat! Your mention reminds me of the Basil Rathbone Holmes set in WWII, where Watson tells him to leave the hat at home when they leave for America.

1. I thought it kept the reader more in the dark than many of the others. Holmes kept everything close to the vest. I actually prefer to be able to speculate even when I'm wrong. Watson seemed more in the dark than usual too. I actually felt that there was perhaps a bit more character study in this one than others.

2. Not read 'Murders in the Rue Morgue' in like 40 years soooo I'll come back to this one after I read it again.

3. Is it signifcant? I don't know. Perhaps it was when it was found out what horrid things the murdered man was up to... it was almost as if the horse dispensed justice himself. Finding the horse was certainly of more import to the owner than finding who killed the trainer. It seemed almost more important to Holmes too.

Happy New Year to all and it's good to be back!

c0ntrarywise January 11 2011, 02:05:54 UTC

Oh, I remember the moment with the hat :D Though, I couldn't tell you anything at all about the episode... Except that I assume it involved Nazis.

alexcat January 11 2011, 02:23:08 UTC

Hehe! They all did, didn't they? Sherlock and Watson protecting the American way!

c0ntrarywise January 11 2011, 02:04:33 UTC

1. I liked this story a lot, as someone reading to try to figure out the sequence of events myself. The clues were good and more subtle than in some of the stories (ie. it wasn't some stepfather trying to horde money for himself).

2. This one seemed much more plausible than the Rue Morgue, so it could well be a jab. Though, I think the two styles are rather different to compare them...

3. Erm, no? Can't say I really read anything into it at all. Though it certainly annoyed Holmes that the owner cared more for the missing horse than his dead staff.

petronia January 11 2011, 03:23:51 UTC

From an actual horse racing perspective, I think this story's setting is kind of nutters (don't exactly remember why though), but I very much enjoy that the horse gave its horrible keeper the what-for. The girl who read Black Beauty is still somewhere inside, what can I say. XD

The dog in the night-time is one of the great Canon lines, too. Wonder when a variant'll show up in the BBC adaptation? They won't be doing Silver Blaze, so I bet it gets worked into HOUN.

gaedhal January 11 2011, 06:33:31 UTC

It's funny -- Conan Doyle was a great sportsman in
almost every way, but when it came to horses he
admitted that he was totally at sea. I've noticed
that canon Holmes isn't too fond of horses, either --
I'm trying to think of an instance where either he
or Watson actually rides a horse and can't. Of course,
being a good horseman was practically a requirement
for a real gentleman, so I think this is one area
where Doyle betrays his very lower middle class roots!
Not that there's anything wrong with it!

verilyvexed January 11 2011, 10:38:18 UTC

I am far too sleep deprived to contribute anything useful or indeed coherent, so I would like to say that my reaction upon reading of Holmes' ear flap hat the first time was "AWWW!" Ear-flaps = far more adorable than a deerstalker.

The second go-round, it elicited another "Aww," accompanied by "Wait, I don't remember any of this but the hat." Clearly, my mind picks up on the relevant details and ignores the rest. Mystery? Bah. Accessories? Exceedingly important.